Embedded Files
March, November 2024 + April, July, October 2025
Organiser - Kevin Howlett
Bandit is a four day workshop for students aged 8 to 17 that happens 2-3 times per year. Students come together to form bands and create songs to perform on the last day at a local venue. I have been Designing and Operating the Lights since 2023 after being approached whilst I was in a band performing.
For this Bandit, I was performing as a drummer in one of the bands. I have been drumming for 7 years and this allowed me to express another of my passions within the creative arts. It was also challenging as I was lighting all the other bands aswell as performing with my band on stage which gave me appreciation what what it takes to put on a gig both on and off the stage.
This was my first time lighting a concert style event so I had alot of things to learn. I also only had about 2 hours to learn the rig and how it was all controlled on the desk as even though it was similar to my secondary school lighting desk, It was set up for busking which I hadnt done before. It is alot more hands on during the show and this event provided me with an opportuity to show off my interests to later get work in the future. I was still getting used to it so it wasnt as interesting as I could have made it however it was a good steeping stone to get me into the of industry and to learn more about lighting in general.
For this I had another person who was interested in lighting shadow me for the performance which was exciting as I was able to show off my skills and help someone else become more envolved and pass on my knowledge
Bandit 35 allowed me to do alot more as my experience in the industry allowed me to bring new elements of lighting design to this event. I was also able to get creative with the different ways I lit the bands as I could play around more with effects to engage the audience with the song being performed at the time
I had alot more creative liberties whilst working on Bandit 36 as it was my third time I was given alot more trust throughout the process. I was able to work with alot more colour pattens and effects whilst creating visually appealing states on stage. I also repositioned some of the uplighters around side of stage aswell as changing angles to ensure areas were lit to how I thought was best.
Bandit 37 was by far the most challenging so far as we were in a completely different venue with no pre installed infrastructure. As head of lighting I bought my own fixtures and cables along with some hired hardware. I had to set everything up to create the most visually appealing scenes however, as we were in a mansion with large windows, I didnt have to worry so much about face light, more so just adding colour and life to the bands
For the layout of the lights, I needed to keep it as cheap and simple as possible down to setup/take down time to short cable runs and most stage coverage. I set up a batten either side of stage on boom stands with another on the floor between the monitors. Cable runs were simple with only having to use three metre lengths. My plans did change quite alot as I had no idea of what the stages were like before arriving there on the day. I wanted to have the middle batten facing out towards the audience as this would have worked well if the stage was a metre high however as it was on the floor, it wouldnt have provided the desired effect. So instead, I faced it towards the band and used it for abit of front light and shadows on the back wall. This gig definately tested my problem solving abilities however i believe it turned out very well given the cirumstances
This was another ordinary Bandit however since I had started working at the Sub Rooms for this one I knew the in house tech crew alot better and we were able to put on a much cleaner show. I also pushed myself alot more to try new styles of lighting and increased my confidence in busking. Along with continuing to familiarise myself with the new setup, I made my own show file to be able to lay it out in the way which made it easiest for me to operate
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse